The Old King roared furiously within the palace.
He wanted to order the army to drive out the invaders, but most of the soldiers no longer obeyed his commands.
At that moment, the Old King thought that perhaps he could still seek help from Rhine, the kingdom's sage.
—Not long ago, the young magician had visited the palace and told him of a soldier's crime.
Just then, two figures entered the palace and came before the King and Queen.
"Father, Mother. I can lead the army and drive out the invaders."
The one who had come was naturally Aurora. The golden-haired girl stood before the palace gates with the morning sun at her back. Her petite, lovely figure cast a long shadow across the ground, while her features remained hazy in the backlight.
Seeing their daughter once more, the King and Queen were moved to tears.
Behind the girl, the silver-haired magician Rhine slowly approached.
The boy's face had not changed in the slightest from years ago. The carving blade known as time had failed to leave even the faintest mark upon him.
The King personally donned his armor and came before the elite Royal Guard.
The Old King had once been a brave and valiant general in his youth, but his aged body could no longer support him on the battlefield. Thus, he appointed a commander far too young and had her lead the elite troops to reinforce the army defending the front lines.
Every soldier who saw their new commander was dumbfounded. They cried out in disbelief, unable to accept that the one leading them would be a little girl who looked no older than twelve. They thought it had to be a joke.
Yet before half a day had passed, before the sun set, Aurora had earned the wholehearted respect of every officer and soldier.
This Royal Guard, whose morale had been in disarray just yesterday, was transformed all at once. Together, they swore that they were willing to die alongside their new commander! Even so, no one connected the commander before them with the kingdom's princess from the legends, imprisoned deep within the palace.
Aurora then led this elite force to the front lines.
The bandits of Engeland had arrived.
They charged down from the hillsides and easily tore through the Rose Kingdom army's utterly useless defensive line.
The Sword Art Master who had once taught Aurora had now become an army officer, riding atop a majestic warhorse.
But faced with the ferocious enemy army, even the Sword Art Master felt a profound sense of helplessness.
On the battlefield, an individual's strength became limited.
After learning the truth of the curse, the soldiers of the Rose Kingdom had long since lost the will to resist. They merely raised their weapons, shouted a few times, offered token resistance, then scattered and fled in defeat.
Such a disorganized rabble naturally possessed no fighting strength at all.
The soldiers of Engeland laughed as they waved their curved blades, slaughtering every enemy they saw—over the past century, this ever-prosperous neighboring kingdom had never been so weak.
The Sword Art Master fled on horseback, doing her best not to hear the sounds of slaughter behind her.
At that very moment, a force charged out from the rear of the battlefield—it was reinforcements sent by His Majesty the King! This force was clearly a fierce elite. Their formations were orderly, their discipline strict, their chants thunderous, and their horns resounding. Every soldier fought bravely and killed with all their strength, and before long, they were covered in their own blood or that of their enemies.
The force's commander led from the front, charging at the very head of the formation.
Her mount was not a fine horse, but a Big Dog. Its eyes were as large as teacups! Two even larger dogs followed behind the commander. One had eyeballs as large as water wheels, while the other's were as huge as the top of a towering spire.
The dogs seized the invaders of Engeland in their bloody maws and hurled them high into the air. When they fell, they were either dead or badly wounded; those thrown the highest were smashed into lumps of flesh.
Leading the two magical Big Dogs, the commander hacked and slaughtered left and right like a god descending to earth, swiftly crushing a great number of enemy troops.
"Loose the arrows! Loose the arrows!"
The invaders drew their bows and nocked their arrows. For a time, arrows rained down as they tried to kill this formidable commander.
Dozens, even hundreds of arrows shot toward the commander, but the instant they touched her, every one turned to ash.
—No weapon made by man or born of nature could harm her! Riding her enormous Big Dog across the battlefield, the commander gripped her weapon tightly in one hand and broke through the enemy ranks. With the other, she drew out a horn and sounded it before the defeated, chaotic army.
The clear, stirring horn blast tore through the heavens! It was like a battle hymn from paradise, igniting the blood of every soldier of the Rose Kingdom and shaking the fighting spirit deep within their souls.
"Charge! Drive out the invaders!"
The Rose Kingdom soldiers who had already been routed, the kingdom officers fleeing in every direction, heard the horn and rallied once more. Courage flared anew within them, and they were transformed.
Scalding tears streamed from the eyes of soldiers and officers alike. What boiled within those tears was fury and the will to fight.
—Her voice could captivate body and soul, making even hearts of stone weep!
"Charge! Charge!"
"For the kingdom! For His Majesty the King!"
"Arrows and blades cannot harm our commander! This is the protection of the gods!"
In the eyes of the Rose Kingdom's soldiers, the commander riding a Big Dog and surrounded by two other Big Dogs was an unfallen banner upon the battlefield.
As long as they followed this commander's steps, victory would surely belong to them. If she charged, the army would advance with unstoppable force; if she did not fall, the war could not be lost.
—Her charm could topple kingdoms. Every movement she made would stir all living beings, and all under heaven would be captivated by her! Thus, the commander atop the Big Dog led the kingdom's soldiers in a relentless charge, blood dyeing her silver-white armor red.
As the sun sank in the west, the crimson twilight stretched her figure into a long shadow across the ground.
The blood-red dusk mingled with the blood shed by the soldiers, indistinguishable from one another, staining the rivers and hills the same color.
On a distant hillside.
The armored Old King listened to the song of victory, his eyes growing slightly sore.
He looked toward the center of the battlefield, at his daughter's figure as she fought bravely beneath the setting sun.
The Old King's thoughts could not help but return to ten years ago—to the night when the national celebration had been interrupted, when the terrible curse had just descended, and when the magician Rhine had spoken his prophecy:
"When this warrior rides a fine horse across the battlefield, even a scattered army will submit to her charm and heed her commands! When this warrior sings a battle song before a defeated, chaotic army, even a force lacking discipline will regroup and willingly die for her! I believe such a warrior will surely lead Your Majesty's army to slay the Black Witch and lift the curse at its root!"
The invaders were driven from the kingdom.
For a long time afterward, no one dared invade the lands of the Rose Kingdom again.
—Because a godlike warrior had seared her valiant image deep into the minds of every invader.
All the aggressors lucky enough to escape home described the course of that epic battle in the most exaggerated terms possible, sparing no terrifying detail.
They gesticulated wildly, leaping about as they vividly dramatized the immense terror they had faced.
They said that the gods had protected the Rose Kingdom and sent down a warrior. The god-given warrior was surrounded by three monsters, and neither sharp blades, halberds, nor arrows could harm her in the slightest.
More miracles began appearing throughout the kingdom.
On the morning after the war ended, a thousand birds of different colors appeared in the skies above the Rose Kingdom. Their colors were those of the rainbow, and they formed all manner of patterns and words in the air, telling the tale of the god-given warrior.
At night, someone heard a fox talking to itself in the grass. The fox spoke of the god-given warrior and how the kingdom's curse would surely be lifted.
Fishermen encountered a terrible storm at sea, but the storm miraculously calmed at once. When they caught fish and cut open their bellies, they discovered strange notes inside. Upon returning home, their blind wives had somehow regained their sight.
People all said that this was the will of the gods.
The Rose Kingdom was surely a land blessed by the gods. Heaven bless the King.
Few noticed that at the sites where these many miracles occurred, a silver-haired boy in a hood slipped through the crowds.
Wonderful. Now people all believe that the gods protect the kingdom and the royal family. Even the terrible curse laid by Black Witch Maleficent will surely be lifted.
"Praise your wisdom, Rhine."
Deep within the palace, the Old King praised the wise sage.
It was merely knowledge from beyond this world.
From that day onward, besides "the beautiful princess confined indoors" and "the Wish-Granting Magician," another legend was added to the Rose Kingdom.
In the largest and grandest luxury inn of the Royal Capital, on the first floor, within the tavern where passing guests boasted endlessly.
Amid clinking cups and flowing drinks, the bartender and guests once again discussed the kingdom's legends.
"New guest, have you heard of it? That... that legend?" The bartender suddenly stammered a little.
"You mean the Wish-Granting Magician?"
"No, not that one."
"You mean the King's daughter, a beautiful princess who possesses every fine quality in the world? Though no one has ever seen her, because she is imprisoned in a palace cast from bronze, and only the King and Queen may enter or leave it."
"No, not that one either."
The bartender handed the guest a bottle of ale, his expression unusually excited:
"I mean the legend of the Valkyrie sent by the gods to save our kingdom!"
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